Mariners, SODO businesses continue preparation for All Star Game week

SODO businesses prep for MLB All Star Week

In less than two weeks, the league's major attraction comes to Seattle. The event itself is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of people to the Pacific Northwest.

SEATTLE - The countdown to the MLB All Star Game week is on.

In less than two weeks, the league's major attraction comes to Seattle. The event itself is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of people to the Pacific Northwest.

The SODO neighborhood is no stranger to big events like sports games and concerts. They have some taste of what next week could look like. From a planning perspective, it's just more of everything. Local businesses and the Seattle Mariners are getting more inventory and having more people on deck.

According to the Mariners, there could be 400,000 people here at once.

Around the SODO neighborhood, people are continuing prepping for five days of MLB madness. Monday afternoon, SDOT crews were pressure washing the walkways up to T-Mobile Park.

Last Friday, the Mariners organized a community clean-up. Volunteers picked up trash, covered up graffiti and even did some landscaping.

One nearby business told FOX 13 that these efforts are making a difference in the area.

"It definitely does a great deal to try and spruce up the city a little bit for all the tourists who might be coming out to see Seattle for the first time," said Adam Trent, the general manager for Cole and Steiner. "Hopefully, that leads to people wanting to come back to Seattle."

However, there are still some areas of concern. A stretch of homeless camps are within walking distance of T-Mobile Park. There are RVs, trash and tents lining the sides of the street.

ALSO READ: 'It's pretty bad:' SODO business wants more cleanup before All-Star Weekend

The Mariners still say they are set for next week.

"We're ready," said Fred Rivera, executive vice-president and general counsel for the Seattle Mariners. "We're ready to go. We've been working on this now for almost two years. Actually, going back even further when we put our application together. We're ready for the world."

Monday afternoon, the Mariners debuted a new rideshare lot for fans.

"I think this is part of what the Seattle Mariners have been trying to do the last several years, revitalize SODO and create an exceptional fan experience," Rivera said. "This will provide a clean, safe, convenient place for fans to rideshare before and after games."

Rivera added that this lot will make a meaningful difference for fans.

As far as security goes, Rivera said the MLB All-Star Game won't look too different from the regular schedule.

"It'll be the same general security as other games," Rivera said. "We'll have SPD present. We'll have our own presence around the ballpark. We'll have additional ambassadors just to have a friendly face to help fans around to navigate, particularly those from out of town."

The 2023 MLB All-Star Game is expected to bring in hundreds of thousands of guests to the Emerald City.

"We're doing a lot of different things to get ourselves ready for it," Trent said. "Whether or not we are going to be completely ready, that kind remains to be seen."

Trent said they're getting more food and beer to accommodate the mass amount of customers expected to come through.

"We're going to try and set up concessions out in front of the store, versus just inside the store itself," Trent said. "We're going to have people mobile payment systems, essentially, to be able to actually take payment from people everywhere."

While this big event next week can be overwhelming, he said they have felt supported by the city with information they can use for planning.

"We managed to make it through the pandemic and hang on as much as we can," Trent said. "Things are actually going much better for us now. We are really looking forward to the All-Star Week because that is going to be a huge influx of business."

SPD said they are reaching out to other agencies for their help in covering the area come All-Star weekend. They'll have federal, state and county partners to help cover the area.